Sicily in a Starbucks – Modesto writer gets 12 minutes, 28 seconds of fame

“One of the hottest screenwriters.”

That’s what Hollywood is saying about screenwriter Dante Cipponeri, a 2012 International Baccalaureate graduate of Modesto High School and 2016 UCLA grad.

OK, full disclosure: By “Hollywood,” we mean “Late Late Show” host James Corden. And what he actually called Cipponeri was “one of the hottest screenwriters if not in this Starbucks, definitely at this table.”

But showbiz is all about exaggerating and promoting out of context, right?

Cipponeri, who’s pursuing film-industry work in Los Angeles, recently was “discovered,” as they say, by the late-night host for a segment called “Starbucks Theater.” In the filmed, 12-minute, 28-second bit, Corden begins by saying, “In Los Angeles, every single coffee shop is filled with aspiring writers on their laptops trying to churn out the next great Hollywood screenplay.”

His thought was: Why wait? Find a good story to tell, and film a few scenes right then and there.

After a few stops – Corden found a screenwriter at an outside table, before even entering Starbucks – he came across Cipponeri. That’s the way it looks in the video, at least. In reality, “Late Late Show” staffers scouted out coffee shops weeks earlier and met Cipponeri then.

“It was super random,” Cipponeri recalled during a phone interview Friday. The Modestan has been making occasional trips to L.A., was staying with a friend while applying for jobs, and went to Starbucks to grab some breakfast. Fully aware of the stereotype of the struggling writer sitting at a coffee shop working on a screenplay, Cipponeri told himself, “OK, I can’t be on a screenplay right now, I can’t have anyone seeing me doing that. So I was working on emails or whatever, when someone working for the show came up to me and asked if I was screenwriter – exactly what I didn’t want to happen. I almost said no, but I said, ‘Yes, I am.’ ”

The TV folks told him what Corden was doing and asked what Cipponeri had to offer. He had comedy and drama to offer, and they settled on the drama, thinking it would be funnier for the bit.

The screenplay is titled “Scoperto” and, as Cipponeri describes it in the “Starbucks Theater” video, is a Western set in Sicily in 1860. He tells Corden, “It’s like ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ meets – it’s going to be weird, but, like – ‘Les Mis.’ ”

Like Cipponeri, one other person involved – a barista who is an aspiring actress – was selected in advance. Most other players were picked on the spot from employees and customers when the video was filmed about a month ago, Cipponeri said. “Would you like to be townsfolk in a major motion picture?” Corden says straight-faced in the video, speaking to several people in the coffee shop.

Cipponeri referred to certain characters as a hotheaded Pacino type and an “On the Waterfront” young Brando type. Corden jokingly reminded him they had the crowd at Starbucks to choose from.

Then he made a call to a friend, asking if the friend was available to come to the Starbucks. Moments later – Hollywood magic again – in walks actor Jason Schwartzman (“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Darjeeling Limited,” “Rushmore”).

Cipponeri said he had no idea that was coming. “They had told me when we first talked about it that there would be something surprising,” he said. “When he came in, it was like, wow. That was pretty cool.”

Corden had Cipponeri on the show when the segment aired Tuesday night. “How did that feel, to see your visualization come to life?” the host jokingly asked Cipponeri.

“It was incredible,” he replied. “Not what I imagined, but I liked it.”

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Sicily in a Starbucks – Modesto writer gets 12 minutes, 28 seconds of fame."